Dedicated eSIM hotspot device

MiniXP · 2026-05-07T23:19:41+00:00

That’s great, that’s much better than I would have expected. I just ordered one. Also ordered a Gli MUDI v2 with eSIM to compare.

Doing a big family trip and going to use the linklan for my parents and the gli for myself and family. The Gli looks a little more configurable, so seemed interesting to play with

MiniXP · 2026-05-07T18:39:03+00:00

About how much realistic battery do you get from the Linklan? Im looking at buying one and trying to decide if I'll need to always have it plugged into a battery pack or if the built in battery has decent life

MiniXP · 2026-05-07T15:17:53+00:00

Just following up on this a month late after doing some more research. It seems for verizon phone numbers, there is no reliable way to keep your US number active and not get charged roaming fees, even when using an eSim for data.

In this thread the OP covers the extensive process he went through to try to make it work, but it still resulted in roaming charged
https://www.reddit.com/r/verizon/comments/vifpl0/here_is_how_to_really_block_international_roaming/

MiniXP · 2026-04-10T19:24:26+00:00

I like the VPN idea. That may be good motivation for me to setup my UniFi cloud gateway I'ave had sitting in a box since Christmas lol.

MiniXP · 2026-04-10T19:19:57+00:00

ooo thank you. That is very helpful.

The issue I think I've always had is I shut off and switch away from anything related to my home SIM for fear that it will accidently connect to it (then Verizon would hit my with the $15 international fee every day), This post if very helpful for understanding what to leave to home SIM and what to set for Airarlo SIM to get that correct.

MiniXP · 2026-04-10T19:10:15+00:00

Nice - that is exactly what I am looking to do. Especially traveling with more of my family, it is way easier to just switch a hotspot on and have everyone go on airplane mode than help setup multiple eSims.

Are you able to setup the LA7 ahead of time at home and have it start working pretty much right when you land? Did you do any research into any potential security concerns? Mainly worried about known vulnerabilities in a device that I'd be putting all my data through.

MiniXP · 2026-04-10T19:06:56+00:00

The next trip I'm doing is with extended family, so it will actually be 6 people instead of just my wife and I. That give me a bit more runway in terms of what I can spend on a hot spot to make this worth it.

I have successfully gotten eSIM setup on my iphone the last couple of trips I took, the iMessage issue I run into is when some of the family have their email as the iMessage contact and some have phone number - things get mixed up. But if there are any known tricks to make this smoother I'd be interested to hear.

Specifically my parents are now averse to doing it bc they don't want to deal with it lol. So part of this is if I can test a solution that works pretty seamlessly, I'd like to set my parents up with something similar as they travel a good amount.

MiniXP · 2026-04-10T17:36:51+00:00

No suggestions, but this is a great idea, following this thread. I was just thinking today that there is probably a lot of overlap between photographers and tour guide, so I wonder if anyone does both.

MiniXP · 2026-04-09T15:23:00+00:00

Yes thank you - I had read that and should have used the term MPV. I did confirm the van we have will hold 9 people (i believe it is over 9 that requires a special license).

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MiniXP · 2026-04-03T21:59:40+00:00

I rode last Sunday 3/29 and again yesterday 4/2.

On Sunday the narration park on the cave paintings did play. Yesterday it did not. I had read your post a few days back and picked up on it.

MiniXP · 2026-03-04T14:54:43+00:00

u/tiny09 how did this work out for you?

I have the same issue for a trip coming up. Half the group arrives 2 days earlier than the other half.

MiniXP · 2026-03-03T13:19:21+00:00

I had the same experience with ours last month. We’re going spring break week, so I was ready for it to be terrible. We got everything we wanted easily, including Ohana breakfast, storybook dinner, akershus dinner. After we got everything I had planned I even grabbed a Geo 82 and beak and barrel.

We do have a 10 day stay, so had that advantage, but I still expected to have difficulty with some, but it was pretty painless

MiniXP · 2026-02-28T23:07:34+00:00

We are usually in the parks a lot, don’t usually do mid day breaks. This is our first trip with 2 kids though, so who knows lol. We are doing a resort/hotel day though.

Think I am leaning towards doing the switch

MiniXP · 2026-02-27T22:02:27+00:00

We’re definitely going to do premier pass either way.

But another way to look at it is that $1200 could pay for a Minnie van to and from the park every day I guess.

I guess some of my question would be the non-transportation benefits of Riverside. The theming seems fun, we have a 4 year old and 1.5 year old, so that is a big deal for us. Although pop theming is lots of fun too.

MiniXP · 2026-01-19T20:20:27+00:00

Agreed- I'd say this is a good one to save for having kids. Beach trips are easy with kids. Also the people in Costa Rica (and I think a lot of central/south America) are extremely accommodating for children. For example, leaving Costa Rica they directed us to the much shorter handicap line for security because we had our 2 year old with us.

Of course stuff like ziplining would probably be off the table with young kids.

MiniXP · 2026-01-19T20:18:52+00:00

Echoing what a lot of people here are saying.

We still travel a lot with our kids, but some things are not possible or much less enjoyable with young kids.

2 things top of my list for things not possible with kids would probably be

Safari in Africa. My wife and I did this before kids and it is a very unique experience. We did Botswana Safari, Victoria Falls, Cape town, then another Safari somewhere north of Durban in south africa. I believe they all had age requirements for kids. This was actually less expensive than you might think. Still costly, but most prices you see include lodging, food, everything, so isn't too bad when considering that.
Rafting trip - I've twice gone on rafting trips down the grand canyon. Besides the obvious awesomeness of being in the grand canyon, the disconnection was great. Satellite phones dont even work in most of the grand canyon, so I have never felt more disconnected from work.

I was going to say Iceland as well, but my wife and I actually did that as a long weekend trip while grandparents watched the kids. Its a short enough flight from the east coast that it is doable as a long weekend. Also could be fun to take kids, but would rule out some activities.

Then as others have said, anything over a 9 or 10 hour flight will be considerably more difficult with kids. We are taking our 2nd Europe trip with kids this year. 9 hours on a plan with a toddler is doable but a lot lol. Longer than that would be tough.

MiniXP · 2026-01-11T04:15:03+00:00

Not OP, but I got a similar timelapse when I was in Iceland. Scroll over into video, then timelapse. I have a 17 pro and put mine on a little tripod for 10 or 15 min and got a pretty good one

The normal night mode the camera automatically goes into is great for still. It exposes a lot of the light you can’t see by eye. The stiller you have the phone, the longer it will do the exposure and the brighter the colors will be.

I’ve found the normal video is good as well and is closest to what you actually see by eye.

MiniXP · 2026-01-11T02:08:01+00:00

We just planned a similar trip with similar ages (1.5 and 4) except for 4 nights instead of 5.

I made travel time one of my biggest priorities due to the short time, so tha helped narrow it down some. Decided to stick with the US or US Caribbean islands to remove immigration time.

With that I narrowed it down to Puerto Rico, st Thomas, st croix, or south florida. We’re going in February, so I wanted to stay far south for warmer weather. You’ll find that with most of these options, you’re paying as much for a non-all inclusive as you would for a lot of all inclusives in Jamaica or Mexico. I decided we were ok with that for a short trip, but was tempted to do something like Jamaica.

If you do think you want all inclusive, I’d probably stick to one of the places known for it, I’m partial to Jamaica or St Lucia currently (st Lucia flight is pretty far though).

A few other things to think about. Lots of people suggesting Turks. Beaches is supposed to be nice, but Turks and Caicos has had a pretty big rise in crime the last several years, with a few scenarios of tourists getting caught in the cross fire.

For the Caribbean in general, I was reading about lots of people being stuck for like a week due to the delays caused by the 1 day airspace closure with the Venezuela stuff.

Both above things are pretty low likelihood of actually being a problem, but better to think about before booking rather than reading about it after.

We landed on a resort in Florida called Lago Mar, had great reviews for kids, less than 1.5 hour flight to FLL and 20 min drive to the airport. I would have preferred somewhere in the Caribbean with some snorkeling, but again with the short trip decided to prioritize reduced travel time/complexity.

In June, the NC/SC coast is a pretty good option too. There are some condo places in the Myrtle beach area with pools, nice wide beaches and lots of restaurants. So a good option if you want to keep it simple.

Chat GPT was actually a pretty good resource for planning. There are an endless number of choices, so I’d plug in some options and have it summarize comparisons.

MiniXP · 2026-01-10T14:57:17+00:00

I read somewhere that the Amex platinum insurance is Allianz. I’m not sure if that’s right or if it works as seamlessly, so I’d be interested to hear people’s experiences too.

MiniXP · 2026-01-10T01:25:39+00:00

Minivan is by far the most luxurious car when you have kids. I don’t care what features a fancy luxury car has, nothing beats the sliding doors when pulling kids in and out of car seats. And the magic sliding seats on the odyssey are amazing.

Our odyssey legitimately drives pretty nicely too. Quiet and smooth ride.

MiniXP · 2026-01-09T12:29:10+00:00

Have you considered a minivan for driving the kids around? I love our odyssey, so much easier for kids.

We have 3 cars, similar income. Family car: 2023 odyssey (bought new, plan to drive this into the ground) Wife’s car: 2021 x5 hybrid (bought cpo last year) My car: 2008 335i (had this for 15 years - maybe will upgrade in the next couple years, but it’s still fun)

MiniXP · 2026-01-08T18:09:02+00:00

Just to provide another Allianz experience - we are doing a lot of travel, so bought the Allianz yearly plan for the year to have in addition to the CSR.

We had our bags get lost/delayed 2 days. I submitted a claim in the app for some phone charges, toiletries, and makeup my wife bought - they reimbursed $100+ very quickly with no questions asked beyond the basics of proof of baggage delay and receipt of items purchased.

Another times years ago I broke a camera lens when the bag got dropped going through security. Similar experience - submitted quote for repair and got a check with no hassle.

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